Grace Community Church - Nashville

The gospel is presented as the answer to many needs, and even desires. But what does the gospel itself tell us about our greatest problem? What is our greatest need? The wrath of God is essential to his righteous nature. God’s wrath is his righteous response to unrighteousness, and those who sin against him are under his wrath. We need a Savior who will deliver us from the wrath of God. Romans includes a lengthy section on the reality of God’s wrath that is designed to lead us to faith in Christ, to worship God, and to live the new life of the Spirit.

The gospel is central to our faith. This center will hold. Romans 1 tells us that the gospel is God’s and it concerns his Son. The gospel is the power of God for salvation because it is the message of what Jesus Christ, the Son of God has done to save us. The saving acts of Christ on our behalf reveal the righteousness of God, which is his right way of making us right with himself as a gift of grace. The gospel will hold because God is true. What will we do with this gospel?

How did Paul go from being a persecutor of the church to an apostle of God who preached the gospel? How did Jews and Gentiles in Rome become the saints of God who belong to Jesus Christ? How did we get here, in this state of grace, believing in Christ, connected as a congregation, and testifying to God’s mercy in the world? Romans reminds us that we are called. God has called us to himself, to each other, and to follow his Son. The question now is, where are we going?

Why read and preach through the book of Romans? Because this New Testament letter to the church in Rome contains the central message of the Christian faith. The good news is that God makes sinners right with himself by grace though faith on the basis of Christ’s work on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. This message has implications for our standing before God, our understanding of ourselves, and our relationship with everyone we encounter in this world. The message of Romans has been used by the Holy Spirit to awaken millions of people to faith in Christ. Throughout history this message has revived and renewed the church and local congregations. When the gospel revealed in Romans is received by faith, it lifts us to the highest and most delighted place of giving all praise and glory to God, before whom we simply say, “Amen.”